Cyclones land JUCO DT Tongamoa

Iowa State landed a JUCO defensive tackle who should help as soon as he arrives on campus in Kamilo Tongamoa. Learn more about the Merced College product here.

Iowa State has added a commitment from Merced College defensive tackle Kamilo Tongamoa.

Tongamoa, now 6-foot-6 and over 300 pounds, will have three years to play two when he arrives. Originally from Sun Valley (Calif.) Poly, he was the CIF Los Angeles City Section defensive player of the year as a linebacker his senior year of high school.

He was set to sign with Colorado State in last year's class, but returned to Merced and has now given Iowa State his verbal.

The Cyclones' two projected starting defensive tackles, Demond Tucker and Pierre Aka are both seniors and behind them are juniors Robby Garcia and Vernell Trent, making it a key position in recruiting and Tongamoa should have an opportunity to immediately compete for a starting job when he arrives.

He is Iowa State's 18th commitment in the 2017 class and third junior college commitment.